Duke University Golf Club Ranks No. 1 In The Triangle

DURHAM, N.C. ? The Duke University Golf Club has been ranked the No. 1 rated golf course in the Triangle area for the fourth year in a row. Since 1995, this official state ranking has been determined annually by the North Carolina golf course ranking panel. These rankings were published in the April edition of Business North Carolina magazine and may be found online at ncpanel.com. The golf course is a par 72, Robert Trent Jones Sr. design with a championship tee yardage of 7,136 and is also ranked 25th best golf course in the state.

“It is a great honor for the Duke Golf Club and I am not surprised,” said Duke Women's Golf Head Coach Dan Brooks. “Robert Trent Jones built the course and Rees Jones, his son, improved upon it. For the player who appreciates a good golf course, Duke is going to definitely going stand out for somebody who knows what a quality golf course is. They are going to appreciate Duke is one of the best.”

The Duke University Golf Club has been open to the public since September 26, 1957. It has always been considered one of the top university golf facilities in the nation. Over the years, the accolades have been great enough to attract many major amateur and professional championships including the Men's NCAA Division I championships in 1962 and 2001. The 1962 NCAA championship featured a soon-to-be-famous golf course architect playing in the field for Yale University. His name was Rees Jones, eldest son of the Duke golf course designer and the person that redesigned the course in preparation for the 2001 NCAA championship. In 2002, the golf course was rated the No. 2 university golf course in a college coaches poll featured in Travel and Leisure magazine.

In 1988, university officials recognized that the golf course needed restoration. While no one denied the magnificent routing of its holes, the condition of the course had become unacceptable by Duke University standards. Rees Jones, now a master architect in his own right, was the only choice for this redesign. Final major construction began in June, 1993 and was completed in April, 1994.

“The Duke Golf Club is a difficult golf course, which helps our team out the most,” said Brooks. “It is hard and you have a lot of tough decisions to make, including how much risk you want to take on a shot. To train we need a golf course that penalizes you for not thinking well and that is what Duke does for us.”

In August of 2005, the already impressive facilities at the Duke University Golf Club took another step towards becoming the best in the country with the addition of the Karcher-Ingram Golf Center. The facility, which houses the men's and women's golf teams, features a state-of-the-art training and practice area complete with full-swing hitting out to 350 yards, a short game zone for any shot inside of 110 yards and two chipping/putting greens.

Ed Ibarguen has been the general manager and PGA director of golf at the Duke University Golf Club since April 1, 1988.

"North Carolina has been a golf Mecca for decades featuring some of the finest golf courses in the country," commented Ibarguen. "While the Duke University Golf Club has always been a favorite design in collegiate circles, its quite an honor to stand out among the dozens of great golf courses in this state. The ranking is particularly significant to our 'open to the public' facility because golfers will always take notice when a public access golf course is rated higher than its area elite private club venues. We certainly appreciate the North Carolina panel identifying us as the best golf course in the Triangle area for the fourth year in a row. We'd also like to recognize and thank the university for their outstanding support over the past 20 years as this could never have been possible without it."

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Duke University Golf Club Ranks No. 1 In The Triangle

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